Genre
Ancient Greek Novel
Setting and Context
Syracuse, Greece, between the Pelopponesian War and the Persian War, during the first century A.D.
Narrator and Point of View
The narrative is in the third person after a short first-person introduction by Chariton. The point of view is the author's.
Tone and Mood
Warmongering and constantly threatening. Jingoistic. At the same time it is romantic with regard to the complex relationships between the characters.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Chaereas is the protagonist; the jilted suitors who are envious of him are the antagonists.
Major Conflict
The major conflicts come in the form of wars, first the battle in which Chaereas takes the Persian stronghold of Tyre, and subsequently when he engages in a naval battle.
Climax
Chaereas and Callirhoe are reunited as man and wife and return to Syracuse.
Foreshadowing
Callirhoe's overwhelming beauty foreshadows the way in which men cannot help fall in love with her as if they are in some ways enchanted.
Understatement
The narrative states that Chaereas hits Callirhoe hard, but this is an understatement in that she falls to the ground and appears to be dead, the coma she is put into so deep that she is actually buried in a tomb. "Hard" would not seem to take the strength of the blow seriously.
Allusions
The author alludes to both historical figures and historical battles or events, although he uses a great deal of poetic license in his explanation of them.
Imagery
The imagery used to describe Callirhoe is fantastical and clearly based on mythological representations of Aphrodite and her beauty. She is said to supernaturally beautiful and the imagery used to describe her creates a somewhat magical and spellbinding visual image for the reader.
Paradox
Dionysius is Callirhoe's master and therefore she is supposed to be under his power; however, she is so beautiful that this is soon the other way around.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between the way in which Callirhoe's father vanquished the Persians and returned triumphantly to Syracuse, and the way in which Callirhoe and Chaereas do the same thing.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
"Syracuse" is used to describe all of the citizens of Syracuse, rather than naming them personally - their beliefs and politics are represented by the name of their city.
Personification
No specific examples in this novel
